Republic suffers another road loss to Oklahoma City

Republic FC fell to Energy FC 2-0 in a hard fought match on Saturday in Oklahoma City. The loss marks both the second straight road loss and road shutout for Republic FC, both coming against Energy FC.

The match started slow as both sides struggled to move the ball because of the wet playing surface. Republic FC had the first look at goal in the 11th minute when midfielder George Fochive had an open shot from just outside the 18-yard box, but the ball sailed well over the goal.

Despite dominating possession for most of the first half, Republic FC could not find the back of the net.

Republic FC’s best chance of the first half came in the 41st minute when midfielder Rodrigo Lopez took a free kick from about 25 yards away. Lopez’s attempt looked destined for the upper left hand corner of the goal but was stopped by Energy FC keeper Jon Kempin.

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Republic FC came out strong to start the second half and squandered another opportunity in 52nd minute. Midfielder Steven Evans found Carlos Martinez who steadied himself and fired a shot. The shot hit the bottom of the cross bar and bounced away from goal. Martinez’s shot seemed to put life into Energy FC, who did not waste anytime and scored less than a minute later off an Adda Djeziri corner kick. Djeziri drove the corner to the back post where a leaping Mark Howard headed the ball into the lower right corner of the goal to put Energy FC ahead 1-0.

Republic FC tried to answer back quickly. In the 57th minute Rodrigo Lopez took a free kick from just inside the centerline which looked like it might sneak into the upper left corner of the goal but was deflected by a high-flying Kempin.

Energy FC struck again in the 67th minute when Steven Perry drew Republic FC’s defense toward the middle. Perry then dumped the ball off to a streaking Mikey Lopez who took the ball on the right side of the box and curved the ball around a diving Dominik Jakubek and into the left side of the goal putting Energy FC ahead 2-0.

“In these games if you don’t finish your chances, they come back to haunt you,” said Martinez of the match. “We were the better team, we just couldn’t find the back of the net.”

With the loss Republic FC moves to 8-5-2 on the season and 0-2-0 against Energy FC. Republic FC will look to rebound from the loss on Friday at Bonney Field when they take on the Orange County Blues FC. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and will feature fireworks following the match.

Los Angeles 1, San Jose 0 at Stanford – San Jose’s offensive woes continued as it reopened the Major League Soccer season with a 1-0 loss toLos Angeles before a sellout crowd of 50,006 at Stanford Stadium. The defeat kept San Jose in eighth place in the Western Conference.

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